NBA Finals Quotes

On the Nets this year vs. last - “They’re a better basketball team than they were last year going into the Finals, without any doubt.”

On it becoming Tim Duncan’s team - "Tim does it by example, by how he plays, comments in the locker room, comments at practice, and comments to the coaches. On the court he pretty much lets his play determine that. Having said that, he has done something that is not usual for him this year. We’ve talked about being more visibly demonstrative, actually touching people, slapping them on the butt, slapping them on the back of the head, and letting people know what he wants on the court."

On Tim Duncan vs. Jason Kidd controlling the game – It’s pretty similar. Jason does it from the top of the floor and Tim does it from the bottom of the floor. It’s a little bit more difficult for Tim I think because he doesn’t have the ball. He has to get the ball where Jason already has the ball. I think out on the court with the basketball he (Duncan) is the most feared guy in the league.

On Kidd and Duncan influencing other players - I think that they demand to have players around them that are willing to play the right way.

On losing leads - You lose leads when you don’t make free throws, turn it over, miss some shots, and the other team makes some shots. That’s how you lose leads. We’re prone to missing free throws and making turnovers. We’ll probably do it again. Hopefully we’ll do it less.

On being affected by the layoff in between series – “There’s no way around it that you’re going to have a little rust to you, but it is about getting back on the horse and getting back to the mental state you were before the break.”

On David Robinson’s changing role since ’99 – "His role has changed tremendously, this team has changed tremendously from the team that was here in ’99. He’s a little less of the offensive, but he is still a big part of what we do. When he plays well it makes our job so much easier and we play that much better."

On his leadership role – "We’ve got a young team and my role has changed a lot this year. I’m more of a leader. I’ve got to be a little more vocal on the court and help the guys in every aspect that I can. It’s been an evolution over the year. It’s been a learning process."

On the Nets winning streak – "Their 10-game winning streak makes them a whole different animal. Having that kind of confidence on that kind of run, no matter where you make it, is impressive. They’re on a big time confidence high and that makes them a very dangerous team in itself."

On if his fifth Finals series is still exciting for him – “I got my own podium (here at media day)…this is ridiculous. I’ve played like 12 minutes the whole playoffs, I’ve got my own podium. It’s awesome…it’s exciting. I just feel so lucky. It’s my fifth time doing this and there are so many guys who don’t get to do this once. I’m just blessed and lucky. You know, everyone’s talking about winning one for Dave (Robinson)…forget Dave. I need one for my thumb! Just kidding.”

On Richard Jefferson - "He’s a very good young talent, athletic. A lot of upside to him. I think Richard Jefferson is a player that everyone will be talking about in the next couple years. He’s a good player, a solid basketball player. He comes from a good university, and he knows the game. He’s a kid that’s willing to learn."

On his free throw shooting – “I think the more I get there, the better I’ll be…if you get there enough, you’re going to start shooting them well.”

On what his team needs to focus on in order to beat the Nets – “Defensive transition. We have to play defense, we have to do a good job of stopping them in transition. We can’t get the lobs and the easy baskets…they’re in a very good team. They averaged 29 points per game in the Boston series in transition points alone. In the Detroit series they averaged 28 or so. That’s a lot of points in transition. And a lot to give up. And vice-versa…their defense is good. They only gave up like 8 points in transition. I think the Dallas series prepared us more for the transition defense because we knew we had to get back and find the shooters. So it was a conscious effort to get back.”

"When I first came (to the Spurs) I was on IR last year. For me to able to perform like I did this year, after sitting out all last year, was big for me because I think that first year was a learning process. Now I am putting my learning process with me game and it’s starting to work out for me."

On the difference between Coach Popovich and Coach Scott – “Just I think Pop is a players coach also because he don’t take no B.S. He wants to win and that is Pop’s attitude. Bryon (Scott) is the same way. Whatever he has to do or whatever it takes to have to win, that’s what he does. I think that is why they are the two coaches in the Finals right now.”

On if he was overwhelmed on the 99 Finals team - "Not really. I was just real excited. At that time we just knew that we were stopping anybody. Especially in the 4th quarter in the last six minutes. Sean (Elliot) would lock down whoever, Mario (Elie) would beat up whoever, Dave would block whatever came to the rim, and Tim would rebound whatever came off the rim. We were really, really tough. That gave us just an unbelievable amount of confidence."

On team youth - "We are a little more unstable at times. We have a lot of untapped firepower on this team, but we don’t really know that we are going to stop people like we did on the 99 team. We have real good confidence, we believe in our defense, but that 99 team was something fierce."

On the Nets playing good defense - "That’s why they’re where they’re at. You don’t get this far in the playoffs without playing defense and those guys (the Nets) do it well and we are just going to have to execute on offense, do what we do well, and concentrate on our ship."

On unfinished business - "We still have four more wins to go and we’re hell bent on getting them."

On Aaron Williams – “A-Train has just been fantastic. He just goes about his business. We ask him to do certain things on both ends of the court. He never complains, he just gets the job done. He’s the guy after Kenyon Martin and Jason Collins that probably guard Tim Duncan also. He’s just a real quiet guy. You ask him to guard somebody, you ask him to score, you ask him to rebound. He’s a coach’s dream.”

On if he has talked to Kidd about what it takes to win a championship – “I think Jason knows. He just has to keep playing like Jason Kidd. If Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins continue playing like they’ve been playing, we think we’re in good shape. We haven’t talked specifically about what (Kidd) has to do.”

On hacking Bruce Bowen intentionally – “Well, (Mavericks Coach) Don Nelson is an innovator; he’s one of the best coaches in the league. So when you see that as a coach, it does make you wonder if it’s a strategy that you should write down. We have a list of things that we have written down that we have to do, and maybe at the bottom of that list is fouling Bruce Bowen and getting him on the free throw line. We play defense a certain way, and I’ve never deviated from that. We’re not going to outright just double-team Tim Duncan, even as good as he is. We’re just going to do the things we normally do. We’re not going to change just because we’re in the Finals because if we change now, then what does that say about our confidence? We’re going to do the things that have gotten us to this point.”

On the transition game - "We try to play defense to create turnovers to get out in the transition game. We’ve got to take full advantage of that if we want to have a chance to try to win any game in this series. They (the Spurs) are so good when they set up their half court defense because you are always looking at not just one seven footer, but two seven footers when you are trying to get to the basket."

On the one thing the Nets have to do to win – "Relax. Play our game. Don’t try to do anything out of the ordinary, don’t force anything and just relax. Because of all the excitement, all of the media, and this just being the finals you’re going to be a little bit more excited than you normally would be. You just have to relax and go out there and have fun and let the game come to you."